Oh Zero! I just can't quit you!

Zero! Yes? Zero? Oh no! How much does that black magic number stick out in both your personal and professional life? Do not cheat, do your math properly! Zero was/is/will be your Nemesis!

Call me Philosopher with the Hammer pondering the hard truths of Zero, nobody´s hero. I am Judge Dredd, your street judge, jury, and executioner! How do you plead? Guilty? I knew you would say that!

Our English word zero comes from the Arabic word sifr. It is the same Arabic root that gives us the word cipher, which can mean something that was done in secret.

Since zero does not exist in the natural world it is no surprise that it took thousands of years for civilization to conceptualize the numerical value of nothing.

How did zero change the world?

The invention of zero immensely simplified computations, freeing mathematicians to develop vital mathematical disciplines such as algebra and calculus, and eventually the basis for computers. Without zero there would be: No algebra, no arithmetic, no decimal, no accounts, no physical quantity to measure, no boundary between negative and positive numbers and most importantly- no computers!

Zero is a special number.

One: It is an important placeholder digit in our number system. Without zero, there would be no binary code, and no computers (at least as we know them). In our numbering system, zero is a place holder; it occupies the place where no integer occurs. So in the number 1001, the zeros indicate that there are no 10s or 100s integers; without the 0s we would have the number 11, for example.

Two: It is a useful number in its own right. The first uses of zero in human history can be traced back to around 5,000 years ago, to ancient Mesopotamia. There, it was used to represent the absence of a digit in a string of numbers.

In the case I illustrate "0" has no magical properties whatsoever, yet 0 is a good number, trust me! If you do not, the number 0 (零, pinyin: líng) is the beginning of all things and is generally considered a good number, because it sounds like 良 (pinyin: liáng), which means 'good'. Now what?

The number 0 is highly regarded as a powerful number for many reasons. It signifies both a beginning and an end. Number 0 is a symbol of nothingness or complete freedom from limitations. In numerology, it is often referred to as the void, as it represents potential and choice.

According to Indian mysticism, zero is round because it signifies the circle of life, or as it was also known 'the serpent of eternity'.

Zero enjoys a special status as both a number and the marker of a number’s absence.  Mathematically, it functions to generate the full plane of numbers, and as a number itself.  Mathematicians, then, are forced to ask, “Is [zero] to be the mark of the empty, or the empty mark?  The first keeps it estranged from numbers, merely part of the landscape through which they move; the second puts it on a par with them.”

In other words, zero generates the system of numbers by standing outside of the system (that is, by functioning as something other than a number), and can function as a number within the system as well.

In set theory, 0 is the cardinality of the empty set: if one does not have any apples, then one has 0 apples. Right, or you are still a leftie?

However, when mathematicians treat zero as a normal number, other problems arise.  For instance, to divide by zero completely disrupts the systems that structure mathematics; dividing by zero can logically prove any statement to be mathematically true. Zero also functions quite similarly to infinity, which carries with it a wide range of illogical and irrational workings. Gotcha!

The number 0 is also known as “Universal Energy” hence it's also known as an “Angel number”. The number 0 is often associated with the spiritual realm and holds a lot of significance for people who believe in the power of angels. This number is seen as a symbol of God Himself and His boundless nature. It also represents the potential that exists in all of God's creations.

The number 0 represents unlimited possibilities and shows that you are satisfied in life. Just kidding! As zero means “emptiness” yet contains everything in it. As a sign of the vocative case, O; as a note of exclamation, oh. The interjection, O! O God is used to emphasize how surprised, angry, shocked we are!

0 is what you see in the mirror when you wake up or go to sleep, perhaps who you are, the circle, a vicious circle driving you nuts on neutral. No offence, nothing personal! Occasionally you will hear someone describe a person as a zero — which is a not-very-nice way to say that the person has nothing going for them.

The number zero is neither positive nor negative. Negative numbers are numbers that are smaller than zero, and positive numbers are numbers that are bigger than zero. Since zero is not bigger or smaller than itself (just like you are not older than yourself, or taller than yourself), zero is neither positive nor negative. Zero is a neutral number, God-damn-it!

So why all this power of zero? Any non-zero number to the zero power equals one. Zero to any positive exponent equals zero!

0 is the most important number! Zero sits in the middle of the number line, separating the positive numbers from the negative numbers, and is thus the starting point for building our number system. As zero was the additive identity, one is the multiplicative identity.

Since the zero also visually resembles a circle, it is symbolic of eternity, evolution, infinity. Like an atom is to the physical world, a soul to the spiritual world, the zero is of symbolic importance to both the worlds.

Zero helps us understand that we can use math to think about things that have no counterpart in a physical lived experience; imaginary numbers do not exist but are crucial to understanding electrical systems. Zero also helps us understand its antithesis, infinity, in all of its extreme weirdness.

The Maya zero, as both a philosophical and a mathematical concept, implies the beginning and the end, the absence of quantity, and a bridge between the past and the future.

Zero is a strange number and one of the greatest paradoxes of human thought. It means both everything and nothing. It is a greatest invention on which every calculation depends. Zero is a tiny number but it can never be ignored!

Taken together, these philosophical, mathematical, and biblical peculiarities and paradoxes of zero invite the question:  is zero a fact, or a fiction?  Discovery or creation?  Could zero be a fiction we use to make sense of our world, a fiction that falls apart when we apply the world’s logic to it? Is zero a victim, or a victimizer? Is Zero your destruction, your negation, or none of your business?

Meh, me thinks that zero is just one of the many casualties of intellectual progress; a mere skeleton, a lurking scaffolding of an idea constructed ever-upward: tentatively yet with haste in order to move on to even less tenable theoretical ideas that entice us with the intimation of some ultimate truth. Like really! Like meh 2! Zero, however enlightening or enriching, is just hard work, no play! We all know those toxic love-hate relationships where shit happens. Blame it on Zero, replete with sex, as it screws all genders!

Cursed, blessed in disguise,

Swearing on the Bible,

I tell nothing but the truth!

Please forgive or forget me!

Oh Zero! I just can't quit you!

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